There were some raised eyebrows in Riyadh when a banner insulted Lazio during the Supercoppa semi-final between Napoli and Fiorentina, but it was seemingly aimed at Maurizio Sarri by the locals.
The Supercoppa has moved to a Final Four format for the first time in its history, so not just between the Serie A winners and Coppa Italia holders, but also the runners-up for those two tournaments.
It is also being played at the Al-Awwal Park stadium in Riyadh, much to the irritation of Lazio coach Sarri, who has been very vocal in criticising the venue, the format and practically everything about this competition.
It seems his comments including “take the money and run” did not go down well with the local fans, who unveiled a banner written in Italian insulting Lazio during the game between Napoli and Fiorentina.
According to Sportitalia, the target was specifically Sarri for criticising the decision to play in Saudi Arabia.
It may well therefore appear again this evening when Lazio play Inter in the other semi-final.
Sarri’s fears were not entirely unfounded, because the official attendance for last night’s semi-final was just 9,762 – and some believe the real number of people inside the arena was closer to 7,000.
The same stadium hosted the Supercopa de Espana final between Real Madrid and Barcelona earlier this month to an almost sell-out crowd of 23,977.
Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos had also publicly criticised the venue and he too was jeered by the local fans.